The Dow of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods reclaimed the top spot in the World Golf Rankings this week with his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 112 points to 14559.65, an all-time high close.

ENLARGE

Go ahead. Dismiss this as a coincidence, as two completely unrelated events. Then have a look at the two charts which illustrate the arcs of Woods's performance in the World Golf Rankings and the DJIA the past 10 years.

Pay particular attention to the period between 2004-2009 and from late 2011 to the present. The trend lines are eerily similar. As the U.S. economy fattened on the strength of an illusory real-estate boom, Woods was ascendant on the golf course and seemingly off of it too—a fourth Masters in 2005, wins at the PGA Championship and the British Open in 2006, a fourth PGA Championship in 2007 and a third U.S. Open in 2008, plus a beautiful wife and a baby girl.

But the second half of 2008 brought the subprime mortgage and banking crises that sent the markets reeling. Woods broke his leg and had to call it quits for the season. Then came 2009, a DJIA dipping below 7000 and revelations of a series of extramarital affairs that doomed Woods's marriage.

Indeed, after this down period, Tiger zigged and the DJIA zagged, beginning a slow climb that Woods didn't get fully on board with until he returned from a series of injuries and got used to a new swing. It's worth noting that the depths of Woods's descent during the second half of 2011 coincided with a major hiccup in the average's four-year rise.

Since then, Woods hasn't won every tournament and the DJIA hasn't risen every trading session, or even every month. But in the big picture there has been little for market bulls or the Tiger faithful to complain about.

A spokesman for Woods declined to comment on his impact on the DJIA. Woods said Monday getting back to No. 1 was a "byproduct of hard work, patience, and getting back to winning golf tournaments," something he's done three times this year ahead of next month's Masters, where he is about a 3.5-1 favorite, according to oddschecker.com.

Meanwhile unemployment is dropping. Housing prices are rebounding. Any guess on which way the DJIA might go, too?

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.